Poughkeepsie, NY

The weather forecast shows a wet, rainy, but warm Halloween is expected in the Mid-Hudson Valley and Poughkeepsie are. Hi 69 / Lo 42. It might turn out to be the first rainy Halloween night since I moved into my house 10 years ago. I can track the weather back that far because each Halloween I set up a table outside on my driveway and serve donut holes and cider to the trick-or-treaters. It's great to see all the neighbor having fun and to chat with the parents too.

If it rains this year I might need to set up shop inside my garage or forgo tradition all together.

And, after the trick-or-treaters are done collecting their loot, the next thing I'll be doing this year is setting all my clocks back.

Remember, Daylight Savings ends at 12am on November 1st. Yes, and it will be getting darker sooner now ...that means one less hour of daylight available each day for Dutchess County homebuyers to be looking at property. Well, we can always bring a flashlight to look around outside I guess Heck, I'm not afraid of the dark. Are you?

The Walkway Over The Hudson is a story of a community that came together to rescue a landmark bridge. The old Poughkeepsie - Highland Railroad Bridge was abandoned after a fire in 1974. It sat for decades deteriorating because it was too expensive to tear down. On October 3rd, 2009 the restored bridge was finally opened to the public. Take the walk and you will see how obvious it is that this river community is so very proud of our new Walkway Over The Hudson, but be sure to bring your sneakers - it's 3 miles to walk from one end to the other and back (1.5 miles each way).

For a better glimpse of the bridge on fire in 1974 click on this link: http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/pbpj743.Html

I visited the Walkway Over The Hudson this week and had the chance to experience the beauty of the Hudson Valley during the prime time for fall foliage - while standing directly above the Hudson River. I am pleased to be able to share my photos below.

This recycled 120-year-old Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge is now considered to be the world's longest pedestrian bridge.

Fred Schaefer is a local Poughkeepsie real estate attorney who I have had the pleasure of working with during my real estate career. I remember a few years back there had been a couple of different functions within the same month where Fred approached me and several other real estate agents - he couldn't stop talking so enthusiastically about the development of the bridge. Funny, I just could not see it coming together like it did - and, now today it is just as he had described. Yes, at that time I had my doubts. Fred offered to take us up to the bridge for a sneak preview - I had concerns about the structural integrity and graciously declined. No way was I going to go up there on that old relic! I was convinced the deteriorating bridge would crumble and I would fall to my death!

Fred continued to pursue his vision and successfully spearheaded this project which has even been featured by the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyregion/25metjournal.html What a wonderful legacy!

For more information about The Walkway Over The Hudson and for frequently asked questions click on the link below: http://walkway.org/

For more information about the history of the bridge click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poughkeepsie_Bridge

This is the view of Poughkeepsie from the Highland side of The Walkway On The Hudson (1.5 miles away)

This is the view of the Mid-Hudson Bridge from the Pedestrian bridge ,a.k.a. The Walkway on The Hudson

First time home buyers and their saga purchasing Foreclosures and Short sales in the City of Poughkeepsie, NY

It's been many months of helping first time home buyers with an approval for an FHA loan, look for a home, find a property, make an offer, only to be rejected. It reminds me of what actors must go through in Hollywood, rejection!

It is heart wrenching for the couples who loose hope on foreclosure offers when the offer is inevitibly turned down. They are competing with investors, cash only, and buyers putting 25 percent down. Not to mention, it is a money game. Banks are looking at the bottom line and will wait it out for better offers.

To add pressure, the buyers were under the gun to purchase a house before the 8K credit was up.

We tried many strategies while shopping for foreclosures including pouncing on a listing as soon as it hit the MLS. What happens with those foreclosures is that the banks will wait 3 to 5 days when they have multiple offers or they just pass on this offer knowing that better ones will come down the road. At last, we had a break-through! The agent went on to tell me that although it was accepted, according to a lawyer, the house did not pass title on a previous offer because the wife's name was still on title. They would try to get a quick release. A week later, I receive another call saying they can't do it and they have to take the house off the market. Another house gone again!

Of course, I have been watching the statistics of listing price to purchase price. Noticing that on the average, in a downward market in our area, houses are selling 10 to 20 percent below listing price. My next strategy for my buyers was to search for homes 20 percent above thier listing price and hope to find a compassionate and motivated seller.

After a long haul, I did! I found a house I knew the buyers would love! They did and they made an offer and we were negotiating. The problem was that they did counter higher than they than they were hoping to have to do. But this figure had been discussed on many other houses and if they had done a 203K loan on some foreclosures they offered on, they would have had to spend close to this to fix the house.

They also had fallen in love with a different neighborhood closer to work but all they had found were foreclosures, unmotivated sellers, and homes priced too high.

I explained how they were in a bad position with foreclosures and Short Sales take many months to complete if they do close. I did my best to point out that the best strategy would be to buy a house from a motivated seller that they could negotiate with. I pointed out that instead of finding a dream home, perhaps looking at this as a starter home and five years down the road, they could purchase their dream home. Presenting the facts was important so they could make a sound decision on thier purchase.

The realtor for the home they were negotiating called to say that the seller was now very motivated and would do what they felt comfortable doing just so he could get on with his life and not worry about the house. They questioned why the owner was coming down in price. Why would he change his mind? I explained that it's not different than purchasing a car. Walk away and sometimes the price comes down.

My advice to first time home buyers in Poughkeepsie who have a low down payment and possibly an FHA loan and don't have a lot of room for negotiating would be to not focus on foreclosures but to look for a home with a motivated seller. That is a buyers market. I think the foreclosures are definetely more of a seller's market for someone with cash or the ability to make competitive offers with large down payments.

Just a few days remaining before the grand opening of the walkway over the Hudson River. With the festivity will come traffic problems, so the organizers have put in place plans to alleviate some of the issues; click here for information on transportation and parking.

There will be many activities but at 3 pm on Saturday October 3rd the walkway will be open to the general public.

The walkway over the Hudson River I know will be well used and just in time to enjoy the wonderful fall foliage that is expected on the banks of the Hudson River.

This year there has been many events related to the quadracentennial celebration and this is just one more.

Flotilla on Hudson River

Jennifer Fivelsdal- Associate Broker- Keller Williams Realty Team - 845-758-6842- jennifer@jfivehomes.com and www.jfivehomes.com

SEARCH FOR A HOME IN THE MID HUDSON VALLEY

**** Informational only; deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.